Abstract
Peacekeeping operations (PKOs) illustrate both the successes and the difficulties of the United Nations in the fulfillment of their primary goal: "the maintenance of international peace and security." They symbolize the ambitions of the organization but also its adaptation: it is thus interesting to analyze their evolution and how they might face the new challenges. Peacekeeping operations are currently defined by the United Nations as "operations involving military personnel, but without enforcement powers, undertaken by the United Nations to help maintain or restore international peace and security in areas of conflict." There is however no clear definition (and even any use of the notion) of peacekeeping in the UN Charter. Peacekeeping emerged during the Cold War as a "tool of conflict management." Whereas "enforcement was not generally acceptable to the superpowers, [...] less intrusive options were developed": peacekeeping had to be a non-aggressive UN military presence.
